I've been out of the whole A/V game for about four years, and just getting back into it again.

Today I tried installing a simple XM radio seperate unit and then hardwiring the power under the dash. So 15 mins to install the radio/Ant and a hour to troubleshoot why the XM won't turn on. Apparently you can't just cut off the lighter plug, and hook up your 12 volts. Why is this? Does XM work at a lower voltage? I did test the plug to make sure the polarity was right both before and after the lighter plug was put back on.

Any Ideas?

 

the radio works at 5 volts. hopefully you didnt fry it lol i do hardwires and i just use a pig tail sig litter to tap in the 12 volt. works like a charm and you can change the fuse if it blows

 

no, it didn't fry, good thing...It was working fine after I put the lighter plg back on.

I'll have to get the order form filled out for a couple pigtails then, thanks.

I just took apart the lighter plug and soldered the source power inside where the fuse went and threw a 10 amp fuse on the line. Soldered the ground of the LP to a ground wire attached to the trunk.

Thanks for the info, I'll use a smaller fuse next time too

 

lol good to hear. glad to help

 

I found out recently that you can come across hardwiring kits that will give you an in-line modulator for 5 to 16 volt sirius and xm recievers. The higher numbers for the older units aparantly. Might be worth looking into.

 

thanks Ken, I'll try and search for it, is it a product through XM/Sirrius or aftermarket? up to 16 volts...interesting, I thought I had hard wire one before without a problem, lol

 

You should be able to get them in mounting kits and aftermarket apparel as well as from XM or Sirius. The thing is that the new lighter plugs are 5-16v apparently. At least that's what I was told. The one I was working with the other day had a dual voltage output. One for 12 for the older recievers, and the new one for the 5v systems.